Can this root cellar be saved?


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Old 02-26-17, 04:15 PM
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Can this root cellar be saved?

This is a root cellar that is on the property of a rental house that I own. I'd love to save it if it can be done without major excavation, etc. I was thinking some metal plates cut to the angle and size of the stairway walls and some screw jacks between them to slowly push the stones and dirt back until it was relatively straight and then welding I-Beams to take the place of the screw jacks. Any other ideas are welcome. It's a liability hazard the way it is now, so if I can't save it, I'll have to collapse it and fill in after.

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Old 02-26-17, 06:09 PM
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Pretty sure that a mason would say that the concrete caps are not worth saving. If you want the patina of the original caps, they could be pretty easily removed / reclaimed. One the caps are off, the mason would likely just need to remove and remortar all the loose stones. Then either lay the concrete caps in a new bed of mortar, or have new caps poured.

The thing insurance may not like, besides the fact that it's currently falling apart, is the lack of railing to keep someone from falling into it, or the lack of a door to seal it off.
 
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Old 02-28-17, 04:59 PM
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The vault of the cellar looks good so the entry is worth what it takes to rebuild it. Can you snake proof it?
 
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Old 03-04-17, 09:06 AM
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Thanks for the information! I hadn't even thought that a stone mason could remove and re mortar the stones that are in the stairway walls. I'll have to get an estimate or two and see what they say. It looks like dealing with the caps would be the difficult part as it looks as though they were poured on top of the stones so I'm not sure if they could be removed without taking much of the top part of the walls with them. In the meantime I'm thinking I'm going to imbed some 4x4 posts outside of the caps and frame a cover/door off of them.

@tightcoat; I've never even seen a snake down there! I've seen plenty of Black Snakes, some Copperheads and even a Timber Rattler around here but none down there. Thanks again for the answers.

I have to say, I'm really impressed by the build of it especially the brick arch roof. I would hate to tear that down. I'd like to be able to date it also, but don't know how I'd do that. There is also a small civil war era family graveyard on the property that is in very bad shape with most of the stones missing or broken.
 
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Old 03-04-17, 10:19 AM
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Call your local historical society, genealogy society or local boy scouts for help with the cemetery (if you are interested in properly caring for it). Maybe even American Legion if you find any veterans lie there.
 
 

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